Hello. I've got a climbing wall in my garage and my 3 yr old has been hitting it hard lately. She expressed interest in getting her own harness to use the rope. The wall is 14' at its tallest point. I've got anchors screwed in all over the walls for rope training. She is still kind of sketched about climbing above my shoulders but is ready to step up her game.

So my question is what would be a good harness for a 3' tall 3 yr old who weighs 30lbs? There's too many out there and none really list measurements.

I got the Petzl Oustiti kids full body harness for my son and it works very well. Got it when he was 3.5 years old and he's now 5.5 years and it still has lots of grow room. It's so comfortable that he likes to swing in the back yard from a line hanging from a tree for well over a half hour at a time.

This edelrid harness is the best I have seen so far. I have the others that folks are talking about but this one really creates a great envelope. I like the back clip hard point for short roping aven in sketchy country. Edelrid Fraggle harness

Mike, that does look really nice. A word of warning for others with light kids - depending on the route there can be enough friction in the system to make lowering a pain. That rear loop could come in handy if you need to give the lower a power assist.

I've had the Petzl Ousititi and Simba, (my kids both started climbing at 3yo), and I much preferred the Simba, they look so similar, but the Ousititi always had a loose strap somewhere, nothing dangerous, but it never looked right, also the Simba tie-in loops were easier to use.

Beware of any increased friction, not usually a problem in the gym unless the ropes are crossed, but if you move outside with the kids, rope drag can easily leave a small kid stuck in mid-air... been there, done that.

Make sure they're always having fun, never push them too hard and before you know it, they may be climbing better than you.

My 6.5 year old daughter just started roped climbing last week. She uses the Petzl full body harness. She may be much older than your daughter but she still only weighs 32 pounds so the harness will probably fit her in a similar fashion.

Good luck with it. They are never too young to get started climbing if they have the desire to do it.

I have worked in a climbing gym for 9 years and there is no age limit for our climbers. We do get them as young as 2.

We have NO full body harness and all we have is the typical Yates gym harness one size fit all. We have never had a problem with this at all.

The Yates gym harness has elastic bands on the wraist and leg loops, so when you tighten the harness you have excess strap hanging down just tuck it into the elastic bands. It works every time.

Just make sure that the rope stays between their arms or else they can flip upside down.

With small kids like 3 year olds I always teach them to walk down with their hands out-stretch in front of them. So that they learn to protect themselves on the way down, especially their faces from hitting the holds. NEVER tell them to hold the rope on the way down, because they will and not learn to protect themselves. Once they understand how to protect themselves, then they can learn, ON THEIR OWN, to hold the rope on the way down. But keep in mind they must learn to hold the rope only when "THEY ARE READY, NOT YOU THE DADDY FORCING THEM"

I have worked in a climbing gym for 9 years and there is no age limit for our climbers. We do get them as young as 2.

We have NO full body harness and all we have is the typical Yates gym harness one size fit all. We have never had a problem with this at all.

The Yates gym harness has elastic bands on the wraist and leg loops, so when you tighten the harness you have excess strap hanging down just tuck it into the elastic bands. It works every time.

Just make sure that the rope stays between their arms or else they can flip upside down.

I'm glad you've never had an incident. I don't know much about the Yates gym harnesses, but I'd hesitate to put kids under a certain age in a more standard-design harness. You mention inverting yourself, and kids tend to have less-defined waists. In an inverted fall, they're more likely to come out of a harness than we are. With the full-body harness, inversion isn't an issue.

If you look at the specifications for many of the kids harnesses out there, there are age and/or weight guidelines. For those that aren't full-body, they're geared towards older/heavier kids.

My 6.5 year old daughter just started roped climbing last week. She uses the Petzl full body harness. She may be much older than your daughter but she still only weighs 32 pounds so the harness will probably fit her in a similar fashion.

Good luck with it. They are never too young to get started climbing if they have the desire to do it.

One other advantage of using full body harnesses is that kids feel more secure while being lowered. When I changed my kids to regular harnesses about 7yo, they both suddenly re-developed the fear of being lowered.

My 6.5 year old daughter just started roped climbing last week. She uses the Petzl full body harness. She may be much older than your daughter but she still only weighs 32 pounds so the harness will probably fit her in a similar fashion.

Good luck with it. They are never too young to get started climbing if they have the desire to do it.

You 6.5 year old weighs the same as my 2.5 year old...awesome!

She is competing in her first comp this weekend. Talk about a strength to weight advantage.

I have worked in a climbing gym for 9 years and there is no age limit for our climbers. We do get them as young as 2.

We have NO full body harness and all we have is the typical Yates gym harness one size fit all. We have never had a problem with this at all.

The Yates gym harness has elastic bands on the wraist and leg loops, so when you tighten the harness you have excess strap hanging down just tuck it into the elastic bands. It works every time.

Just make sure that the rope stays between their arms or else they can flip upside down.

I'm glad you've never had an incident. I don't know much about the Yates gym harnesses, but I'd hesitate to put kids under a certain age in a more standard-design harness. You mention inverting yourself, and kids tend to have less-defined waists. In an inverted fall, they're more likely to come out of a harness than we are. With the full-body harness, inversion isn't an issue.

If you look at the specifications for many of the kids harnesses out there, there are age and/or weight guidelines. For those that aren't full-body, they're geared towards older/heavier kids.

I agree about the inversion issue and that is why we make sure the rope is tight, and stays between their arms to prevent inversion.

I just saw that the camp Bambino harness is on sale from mountain Gear. $45 down from $59. No idea what it's like, but just thought I'd share as I was browsing their flyer this evening. Item number 214280 Www.mgear.com

I have, use, and would recommend this Singing Rock Harness. I have found it very easy to adjust the shoulder straps to switch between kids fairly quick and straight forward. More adjustment buckles just mean more work changing between kids. I have two boys that climb, and we have also used it for freinds climbs. It holds very securely, doesn't have any point where the kids would slip out top bottom or side. The tie in point is high enough to prevent flipping, but not too high to be lowered nicely. Two thumbs up.

Make sure they're always having fun, never push them too hard and before you know it, they may be climbing better than you.

TE

THIS! I don't have kids, but my climbing partner does and we take them out with us (were 4 and 6, now 5 and 7). I see/hear so many things that make me think "well, that's how you ruin climbing and your relationship with your kids." It usually involves too many people yelling at a scared kid or slow-moving kid, ugh.

Also, before you take the littlie outside make sure she's got a Grasp on the whole peeing-outside thing! That is how I bonded with the 4 year old!